New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 1 - GENERAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION
Chapter 13 - PUBLIC RECORDS
Part 30 - DESTRUCTION OF PUBLIC RECORDS AND NON-RECORDS
Section 1.13.30.7 - DEFINITIONS

A. "Chief records officer" means a person designated by an agency's records custodian to administrate the agency's records management program, refer to 1.13.12.10 NMAC.

B. "Confidential" means information provided to, created by or maintained by a government agency and that is exempt from release under state or federal laws.

C. "Custodial agency" means the agency responsible for the creation, maintenance, safekeeping and preservation of public records, regardless of physical location.

D. "Degaussing" means the process of removing magnetism from magnetically recorded tape thereby rendering the information unreadable.

E. "Destruction" means the disposal of records of no further operational, legal, fiscal or historical value by shredding, burial, pulping, electronic overwrite or some other process, resulting in the obliteration of information contained on the record.

F. "Disposition" means final action that puts into effect the results of an appraisal decision for a series of records (i.e., transfer to archives or destruction).

G. "Functional records retention and disposition schedule" means a rule adopted by the commission pursuant to Section 14-3-6 NMSA 1978 describing the function of records, establishing a timetable for their life cycle and providing authorization for their disposition.

H. "Inactive record" means a record no longer needed to conduct current business but required to be maintained for operational, legal, fiscal or historical purposes until it meets its retention.

I. "Non-record" means extra copies of documents kept solely for convenience of reference, stocks of publications, transitory records, records not usually included within the scope of the official records of an agency or government entity and library material intended only for reference or exhibition. The following specific types of materials are non-records: materials neither made nor received in pursuance of statutory requirements nor in connection with the functional responsibility of the officer or agency, extra copies of correspondence, preliminary drafts, blank forms, transmittal letters or forms that do not add information, sample letters and informational files.

J. "On-site destruction" means destruction of records approved by the state records administrator to be destroyed at a location other than the records center.

K. "Permanent records" means records considered unique or so valuable in documenting the history or business of an organization that they are preserved in an archives.

L. "Records" means information preserved by any technique in any medium now known or later developed, that can be recognized by ordinary human sensory capabilities either directly or with the aid of technology.

M. "Records liaison officer" means a person designated by the records custodian to interact with the state commission of public records, refer to 1.13.12.11 NMAC.

N. "Records management" means the systematic control of all records from creation or receipt through processing, distribution, maintenance and retrieval, to their ultimate disposition.

O. "Recycling" means the process that recovers the raw materials of a medium allowing for the reuse of various media. Overwriting on magnetic media is a means of recycling.

P. "Retention" means the period of time during which records shall be maintained by an organization because they are needed for operational, legal, fiscal, historical or other purposes.

Q. "State archives" means the principle location within the state records center and archives that maintains, preserves and makes available to the public the permanent and historical records of the state of New Mexico.

R. "Transitory" means messages which serve to convey information of temporary importance in lieu of oral communication. Transitory messages are only required for a limited time to ensure the completion of a routine action or the preparation of a subsequent record. Transitory messages are not required to control, support or to document the operations of government.

S. "Trigger event" means the event which begins the retention period.